Thursday, January 14, 2010

Following the demand for more travel accommodation in the October-December quarter in India, a handful of international luxury hotel chains are competing to expand their empire here. The global hospitality brands are eyeing India as this country is gradually booming as a major travel destination for the leisure travelers and corporate travelers alike. The list of these international brands includes names like MGM Mirage, Fairmont, Regent, Mandarin Oriental, Dusit and Peninsula. Regent will build its luxury hotel in Gurgaon and will open its doors in the late 2013 with 160 rooms.

The company has entered into a deal with Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure of India. The brand also hopes to expand its territory to the metros like Mumbai and Bangalore. In the leading cities of India, the room occupancy shot up to nearly 65-70% in the December quarter. This is a steep rise from last year when the room occupancy rate was not even 50%. Expert hoteliers are predicting the rise to keep up in the next quarter as well. To keep up this momentum, the hotels are also offering special accommodation packages with discounts.All these are good news for the Indian tourism industry and with the Indian soils becoming the play ground of these international luxury hospitality chains, India will soon shine bright on the global tourism map.